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Merrill Agrees to Settle With SEC
Over Orange County Charges

By

John R. Emshwiller and

Charles Gasparino Staff Reporters of The Wall Street Journal

Updated Aug. 25, 1998 12:01 a.m. ET

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, completing its lengthy investigation of Merrill Lynch & Co.'s role in the 1994 bankruptcy filing of Orange County, Calif., charged the securities firm with negligent conduct for allegedly failing to warn investors of the risks they were taking in buying the county's notes.

Merrill simultaneously agreed to settle the matter without admitting or denying wrongdoing and by paying a $2...